The main cause of tension between Germany and Great Britain was over the navy. Germany wanted to increase its power by gaining overseas colonies and that is why they built such a great navy, to defend its colonies. Great Britain felt threatened by Germany and they increased their navy. But from my point of view Britain did this because of pride and not because they really felt threatened. An arms race can’t be a reason for blaming Germany, although they were increasing their navy, many European countries also improved their armies, not only Great Britain and Germany. So why blame Germany, the arms race was indeed the main cause of tension between Great Britain and Germany but was this really a cause for the outbreak of the war? If it was really a cause not only Germany should have been blamed but also Great Britain.
Although German-French relations were in trouble since the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, the Moroccan Crises of 1905 and 1911 nearly led to war between the great rivals. The Moroccan crisis was, from the French point of view a very unfair thing to do. France wanted to conquer Morocco but they didn’t want the Germans to gain colonies in Africa so why could the French gain colonies and the Germans don’t? But this Moroccan crisis at last didn’t cause a war. Although when the First World War started both countries had anger and bitterness towards the other and this encouraged them to fight one against the other in a war that they didn’t cause. Although Germany was blamed for the outbreak of the war, if it was according to the anger and bitterness left by the Moroccan crisis Germany and France would have to be blamed for the outbreak of the war, not only Germany.
There were many long-term factors pushing Europe to war, but the spark that actually lit the flame was the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia (a part of Austria-Hungary) on 28th June, 1914. The problems in the Balkans were longstanding. Many Balkans wanted to be ruled by Serbia but Austria Hungary wanted to take control of the Balkans. This isn’t a reason to blame Germany for the outbreak of the war because this really shows how the war started, when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian terrorist, not a German terrorist. So why was Germany blamed if Germany wasn’t involved in how the war started, it was Serbia who should be blamed as it was a Serbian terrorist who killed Franz Ferdinand. And not only because Germany had to support its ally Austria Hungary means that it should be blamed for everything that happened in the war. It was everyone’s fault, not only Germany that wasn’t the country for which the war had started.
From the evidence presented it is clear that Germany shares some responsibility for the outbreak of war. However, historians have argued over whether in fact Germany is the one state that is truly guilty. For example, German historian Fritz Fischer caused quite a stir with his thesis that accused Germany of deliberately starting the war. Fritz Fischer said that Germany was planning the war in order to become a great world power. According to Fischer, when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated Germany encouraged Austria Hungary to start a war against Serbia. Germany gave Austria Hungary a blank cheque to attack Serbia meaning they would support Austria Hungary in whatever they wanted to do. Then Fischer compared the Kaiser with Hitler but this wasn’t believed very much and Fischer was accused of national disloyalty and of reading history backwards. I don’t believe in Fischer’s thesis as it’s not intelligent to compare a person of that time with one that gained power many years after him.
In response, another German historian, Gerhard Ritter claimed that Germany didn’t have a plan for domination, and that is was only trying to support its main ally Austria Hungary and that the First World War was more the fault of the military than that of the German policy. Also he says that Germany’s aim wasn’t a war but to empower Austria Hungary, its only true ally. From my point of view, Ritter’s thesis is more believable as he is trying to identify what really happened in the war without comparing anything to things that happened later in history.
Nevertheless, I believe that Germany wasn’t guilty for the outbreak of the First World War and that it shouldn’t have been blamed just because they lost the war. I support this with what Ritter says that is a very intelligent and believable thesis that explains what really happened in the First World War. From my point of view, every country that participated in the war should have been blamed because they all caused damage and loss. But if there was just one country to blame I would say that the First World War was Serbia’s fault because it was a Serbian terrorist who killed Franz Ferdinand and started the First World War.